Following the rise of capitalism, the revolution in women's rights, and the availability of contraception, the late 20th century ushered in new family structures, not unprecedented, but certainly not within what was previously accepted as a social norm. These new family structures included unmarried couples, same-sex parents, and remarried parents and brought the new dynamic of step-relationships into the family unit. Gradually divorce, pregnancy outside of marriage and the now often liberating reign of single parenthood have lost some of its social stigma. As industrial capitalism took hold, women were ushered out of the domestic sphere and into the world of work. In addition to the socialization of domestic tasks, this was a necessary condition for liberation. The institution of the nuclear family, however, as an economic unit is fundamental to meeting the needs of capitalism. In the current system, employers pay workers a wage, but do not assume responsibility for the social costs of maintaining the current generation of workers or raising the next generation of workers into adulthood. These tasks are undertaken by separate families, and within the family, it is mainly women who carry out unpaid domestic work, i.e. child-rearing, cooking, housework and basic healthcare. Capitalism, in essence, is now essentially based on the unpaid work of women within the home. The creation of the family unit is increasingly important today. As privatization, layoffs and the dissolution of the social safety net have become facts of life, the pressure on individual families and the women within them has become immense. Capitalism is defined as: A social system based on the principle of individual...... middle of paper ......004. 23. Print.3. "International socialist magazine". International socialist magazine. Np, nd Web. December 1, 2013.4. “Why American Capitalism Perpetuates Gender Inequality.” World of workers. Np, nd Web. 4 December 2013. .5. Heymann, Jody and Kristen McNeill. "Equality and discrimination". Children's possibilities: How countries can move from survival to prosperity. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2013. 203. Print.6. Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg, October 25, 2012. Web. December 4, 2013. .7. National Council of Women's Organizations Child Care Task Force, available online at http://www.womensorganizations.org/_pages.cfm?ID=111.8. Coontz, 67.